Old wives tales & silly believes

[Killer Bees]

The size of a man's hands or feet will tell you how he's hung. 
Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through the human digestive system.
You have to wait an hour after eating before you go swimming or you'll get cramps.
You should store batteries in the refrigerator to make them last longer.
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE was the worst movie ever made.

Actually that first one is correct, plus a few othe rmarkers which I won't mention here    I've applied it to every man I've dated and I've never been wrong yet 

[Trevor]

The size of a man's hands or feet will tell you how he's hung. 

[Trevor looks at small hands and size 8 shoes] NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jack]

I think the thing about not swimming immediately after eating is somewhat correct.  After you eat, a lot of blood flows to the areas around your stomach, which is needed to carry out the digestion process.  When you swim, that blood needs to flow to the muscles, to carry away lactic acid which is a by-product of muscle exertion (it's what gives you the "burn" during exercise).  If not carried away, it can result in cramping.  If your body is trying to devote resources to digestion and you put a heavy physical strain on it from swimming at the same time, well...best to wait a while just to be on the safe side   

[Newt]

Since others are refuting some of the Old Wives' Tales already listed:

-If you eat fast you will become fat

If you eat quickly, you tend to take in a larger quantity before you feel full: so if eating more makes you fat, then it follows that eating fast can contribute.

-In my country people say that someone has genetics of their uncle, biology says this isn't true 

Genetics says that a male child can be expected to share 25% of his genes with an uncle: it can be an even higher percentage. It is very comon for children to resemble their parent's siblings Siblings that have the same parents share many of the same genes, making it possible for kids to resemble their aunts and uncles.

[Raffine]

Genetics says that a male child can be expected to share 25% of his genes with an uncle: it can be an even higher percentage. It is very comon for children to resemble their parent's siblings Siblings that have the same parents share many of the same genes, making it possible for kids to resemble their aunts and uncles.

Interesting. I look lmore like my uncle that I do my parents, and my nephew looks more like me than he does my brother.

[AndyC]

Genetics says that a male child can be expected to share 25% of his genes with an uncle: it can be an even higher percentage. It is very comon for children to resemble their parent's siblings Siblings that have the same parents share many of the same genes, making it possible for kids to resemble their aunts and uncles.

Interesting. I look lmore like my uncle that I do my parents, and my nephew looks more like me than he does my brother.

Makes sense. Your parents come from the same stock as their siblings, with a different shuffling of the genes. It does seem logical that when those genes are reshuffled, some of the other traits might take more prominence.

Makes me think of my wife's family. There is kind of a distinctive nose shape (kind of hooked and pointed at the same time) on her mom's side of the family. Her mom doesn't have it, but her sister and brother do. And while there is a clear resemblance between my sister-in-law and her mother, she does resemble her uncle, who has the same nose and similar colouring.

[Flick James]

My charming Irish in-laws, bless 'em, believe without a doubt that you can determine the gender of an expected baby by dangling a needle on a string over the expectant mother's belly.

[AndyC]

My mom has always been one to cite old wives' tales, but never believed any that weren't at least based on some kind of misunderstood science. She clearly believed that sitting too close to the TV would "ruin your eyes" and eating dry pasta or uncooked rice would cause a bowel blockage when it expanded inside you. But she would only jokingly tell somebody that spilling salt meant they were going to have a fight, or some such thing. Coming from a farming background and growing up in the 1930s and 40s, it doesn't surprise me that she would have some knowledge and fondness for folklore. She's told me her father used to read tea leaves for people. It was just for fun, sort of a party trick. He'd look into the cup and make up some BS, and the other person would make it fit. Same way the pros do it, I suppose. I think they were too much of an old-fashioned Presbyterian family to have any serious belief in the supernatural, beyond their own religion. I get the impression my grandfather also had something of an interest in science, at least as it pertained to agriculture. I never met the man, but I do think I inherited a lot from him.

[ulthar]

Changing a horse's name changes its luck.

There's a similar one for changing the name of a boat.  On the 'Net, there are elaborate ceremonies circulating for the "only true way" to combat this if you change a boat's name; many involve virgins ... sacrifice a virgin or in place of going THAT extreme, get a virgin to urinate on the boat to "cleanse" it of the old name.

I am so sick of this stupid crap in the 'boating world.'  Geez.  Throughout history (many boaters claim to be "well read"), boats/ships were renamed at will.  Especially warships upon capture; the new Navy would rename the ship that day, or soon thereafter, so one could argue that the OLD name was the unlucky one.

Some ships changed hands many times and underwent as many name changes.  The name of the vessel did not cause defeat - the superior power or skill of the opponent did.

Historically, though, sailors (even deeply religious ones) were a superstitious lot.  Some others:

(1) Whistling or scratching the back stay will make the wind blow

(2) Never leave port on a Friday

(3) Early bad luck in a voyage (accidents, etc) is an omen that the voyage itself is 'doomed.'  The Titanic suffered from some early 'near misses' that many continue to claim foretold the disaster to come.  ALL of this is hindsight, though...there are many cases where early mishaps had no effect later in a vessel's 'career.'

(4) A single hapless crewman (clumsy, ugly, not well liked, etc) can bring back luck to an entire voyage; he was termed a "Jonah" after the Bible story.

(5) For many years, it was commonly held in the British Navy that British sea captains could win engagements by moral force alone - that since they were British, they had an advantage.  The War of 1812 did a lot to overturn this notion.

(6) Never step on or off a vessel by leading with the left foot; nailing a right boot the mast could bring good luck.

(7) Women on board were considered bad luck; this may have arisen due to the 'distraction' or disaffection it caused in the crew. Exceptions were made for warrant officer's wives.  Another exception was if the woman was naked; she was then thought to calm the sea.  (yea, right...tell me some of this was not well thought out).

(8) It is unlucky to kill an Albatross.  Some mistake this one to be that is considered unlucky to SEE an albatross, but that is actually lucky.

(9) Placing a coin under the mast will bring good luck.

(10) Cutting your hair at sea can bring bad luck.  Sailors took enormous pride in the length of their plaits.  The "crew cut" for sailors is a recent phenomenon.

[Rev. Powell]

The size of a man's hands or feet will tell you how he's hung. 

Actually that first one is correct, plus a few othe rmarkers which I won't mention here    I've applied it to every man I've dated and I've never been wrong yet 

KB, there's something that comes to mind here called "sample size."    Also, I've heard this myth applied to hands, feet and noses---but I have small hands, average sized feet and a big nose---so what would you conclude?  

[Rev. Powell]

I think the thing about not swimming immediately after eating is somewhat correct.  After you eat, a lot of blood flows to the areas around your stomach, which is needed to carry out the digestion process.  When you swim, that blood needs to flow to the muscles, to carry away lactic acid which is a by-product of muscle exertion (it's what gives you the "burn" during exercise).  If not carried away, it can result in cramping.  If your body is trying to devote resources to digestion and you put a heavy physical strain on it from swimming at the same time, well...best to wait a while just to be on the safe side   

Sounds plausible--but it's just theoretical, the empirical evidence doesn't back it up.  This is almost always listed as a myth. 

From the New York Times health column:  "..the warning is yet another old wives' tale that should be laid to rest. The theory is that the process of digestion increases blood flow to the stomach - away from the muscles needed for swimming - and leads to cramps, which increase the risk of drowning.

Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa, a gastroenterologist at the New York University School of Medicine, said that while swimming strenuously on a full stomach could conceivably lead to cramps, for most recreational swimmers the chances are small. And at least one study that looked at drownings in the United States found that fewer than 1 percent occurred after the victim ate a meal, she added."

But maybe you and the old wives are right, it doesn't really hurt anything so why not be on the safe side?

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

My charming Irish in-laws, bless 'em, believe without a doubt that you can determine the gender of an expected baby by dangling a needle on a string over the expectant mother's belly.

Well...it will tell you if its boy/girl or ferromagnetic mutant for sure.
0Ed

[JaseSF]

Going out a different entrance than you came in can be bad luck. Also returning home prematurely from a plannet trip to get something you've forgotten.

A black cat passing in front of you is an ill omen.

[Killer Bees]

The size of a man's hands or feet will tell you how he's hung. 

Actually that first one is correct, plus a few othe rmarkers which I won't mention here    I've applied it to every man I've dated and I've never been wrong yet 

KB, there's something that comes to mind here called "sample size."    Also, I've heard this myth applied to hands, feet and noses---but I have small hands, average sized feet and a big nose---so what would you conclude?  

RC, I would have to see you in real life to determine for sure.  What you consider small hands, might not be so depending on the other criteria that I use 

[Used Meathook]

- Watching horror movies and playing violent video games will turn you into a psychopathic maniac.



...in that case, I've been "under the influence" for the last 27yrs and am about to crack!